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Beauty & Fashion

Beauty & Fashion

Beauty refers to a combination of qualities that pleases one's aesthetic senses (particularly sight) and gives the mind pleasure and satisfaction. Beauty is often an amalgamation of size, shape, color, form and — if concerned with a person — personality. Many things can be perceived as beautiful such as people and animals, physical geography and manmade structures, art forms, etc.

Fashion is a popular and prevailing custom or trend in styles of dress or ornament (although it can also refer to cosmetics or manner of behavior). Different fashions and their influence on beauty and status have been a reality since ancient times. Nevertheless, the fashion industry that mass-produces clothes began in the Western Hemisphere during the 19th century. After the advent of the sewing machine and the factory system near the turn of the century, the fashion industry grew exponentially and spread internationally.

Over time, popular conceptions of what constitutes human beauty and what fashion is in vogue has drastically changed. This change has in turn had a significant influence on cultures worldwide. (Photo: Shutterstock)